iPhone users complained about the lack of third-party apps, the lack of 3G, the lack of GPS, that the screen got greasy and that AT&T's network sucked.
Android users complain that they can't install the newest OS on their device, that Exchange sync doesn't work, that third-party applications crash, that Android Market is horrible, that core applications crash, that settings are obtuse and scattered, that it's awkward to use and uncomfortable to hold, and even though the browser uses WebKit, it sucks.
Two generations of phones later, and all of the current iPhones are capable of running the latest OS from Apple. Third-party apps exist, and for the most part don't crash. Except for hardware differences (GPS, speakerphone, camera), most applications run on any of the 6 iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Even the screen doesn't get greasy any more, and Apple introduced the word "oleophobic" into the vernacular. The major failure is still AT&T, who apparently uses frame-relay and microwave links for their backhaul.
Meanwhile the problem with Android devices lies much deeper. SDKs aren't released until weeks out after an OS release, resulting in masses of applications that aren't compatible with the new OS release (and with the newest device, as long as Google continues their new device, new OS trend). The Android Market is a mess – applications are being published that steal personal information, easily half of the apps are filled with comments to the tune of "doesn't work on device XXXX" or "crashes immediately!" because of the massive API changes occurring between OS releases and developers that lose interest after a single application.
Notification controls are non-existent – I have yet to find a way to shut my Droid up. Even if I go into every application and turn off all the sounds (and boy is that fun) and shut the phone off, for some reason the Motorola demon spawn will power itself back on and chirp at me.
And the browser. Oh the browser. Sure, it renders pages fine, but it's slow, and doesn't support multi-touch. The screen itself is capable of supporting multi-touch, just not the browser. The free Dolphin Browser has tabs and multi-touch gestures, but shares another flaw with the bundled browser – animation speed. Animations take much too long. Aim for about 200ms from start to finish. Any more than that and users will become impatient. And after waiting 600ms for a pinch-to-zoom, impatient is accurate.
Apple has demonstrated that they listen to user complaints, or at least that they plan ahead well. Most of the iPhone complaints were addressable with newer hardware, but the problem with Android is that Google seemed to want to take the exact opposite tact of Apple, and go for complete openness. That's great, but it looks like they started by attacking standard UI controls and behavior. Maybe they consider it a feature? ANDROID – where every app is so different it's like having 15 phones in one!
Google needs to tighten up the operating system and address the sprawl of OS releases and devices quickly before they fall into the same trap that RIM is in – a nasty pit one where a developer has to build multiple versions of a single application to overcome massive feature disparity between OS releases1.
- Although in RIM's defense they're addressing this with OS 5.0 which has a unified codebase. If only the carriers would get off their asses and approve the 5.0 updates. [back]
Tags: Android, BlackBerry, Droid, iPhone, RIM
January 14th, 2010 at 2:21 am
[...] A bare-knuckled bucket of almost. [...]
January 16th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Great article!
You forgot about copy&paste not existing for the longest time on the iPhone =]
Erik
January 20th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
One of the best posts I've read so far on the two systems.
February 27th, 2010 at 11:26 am
It sounds like youre creating problems yourself by trying to solve this issue instead of looking at why their is a problem in the first place
May 17th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Biggest problem for developers is you cant make money. google does nothing to promote apps while apple does killer marketing. until google helps out why spend time and money developing apps for android?
August 12th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Very good complaints for both iPhone and Android. This should be taken into account by their specific company manager. I think there are several free apps for Android came out and sorry, I'm not that updated with iPhones. What do you perceive?
September 3rd, 2010 at 4:05 am
I found this article to be very informative. I agree that Google needs to tighten up and implement consistency across the apps UI.
Thanks for the great insight.
October 26th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I still can't believe apple is disapproving apps everyday while android gets more and more apps. They say android has more free apps than the iPhone already
October 29th, 2010 at 2:10 am
Sounds like all of your performance based complaints are Droid based and not android based. But hopefully the slew of updates since your post in January has diminished some of your problems. Personally I love Android, I haven't had a single problem with my Evo. I will agree that the app store is sub par, and the payment methods are limited. And a great thing is that the sdk for he next release is coming out before the launch. The reason that not all phones are compatible with the updates lies within the vast diversity of Android devices.
December 6th, 2010 at 9:31 am
I use Android since 6 month and for nothing i came back to iOs..
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:21 pm
great post really i haven't read such a great tutorial since.
January 4th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Notice to iPhone: The Party is over!
signed: Android
January 6th, 2011 at 8:32 am
sounds like you are making troubles yourself through attempting to solve this issue rather than looking wherefore their is a problem originally
January 7th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
This might be the first article I have read that accurately describes a lot of the Droid issues. I hope google is paying attention to your long list as I would hate to see them loose the fight to iPhone right now. It is just getting really exciting in the platform world.
January 19th, 2011 at 10:38 am
Have had experience with iPhone/Pod apps for over a year. Have heaps of free and paid apps and no issues. The store is easy to use and all info is readily available before purchase. Purchased my first Android app (ironically, to make my phone look more like an iPhone) after spending an age browsing through a very user-unfriendly, 'crap app' overloaded market with minimal information….and it doesn't work! Thought I would enjoy both worlds but frankly they're worlds apart. How Android is competing with iPhone is beyond me. I can only think that Apple haters are more passionate than Apple lovers.
February 21st, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Google wanted to be the Microsoft of mobile phones – More units & less control. They got both and all the headaches too. But Google don't have to care because they make more $ from mining and selling user info than selling software.